April 2002

New Career Milestones for Musashimaru

New Career Milestones for Musashimaru
Joins Legendary Champions with Tenth Tenno-Hai
by “Yukikaze” for SUMO SHIMPO

At the start of the 2001 Hatsu Basho, MUSASHIMARU was sitting pretty at yokozuna-East -- the #1 slot on the banzuke.  Three torikumi and one kinboshi later, he was out of the competition with what was reported to be an injured wrist/hand.  With yokozuna-West TAKANOHANA still rehabbing his surgically-repaired knee, new ozeki TOCHIAZUMA bested fellow-ozeki CHIYOTAIKAI in a playoff to take the first yusho of 2002 – and set himself as the number-one candidate for yokozuna promotion.

Then came March, and the train ride down to Osaka’s Prefectural Taiikukan for the 2002 Haru Basho.  TAKANOHANA was still a no-show:  the ‘buzz’ said he would be ready for Tokyo ins May.  But MUSASHIMARU was ready now, back in the wars, still in possession of the top spot.  Once the opening bell rang, he quickly demonstated his recuperative powers by disposing of his first ten opponents (including both komusubi) to take the lead.  The day 2 victory over maegashira #2-East KYOKUTENHO was his 650th win in the Makunouchi Division, moving him past Konishiki into sixth place on the all-time top-division wins list.  His last five bouts would be against two sekiwake and three of the four current ozeki, and this portion of his outing started badly with a katasukashi loss to sekiwake-West ASASHORYU.  But that proved to be the only serious bump in a road otherwise pounded flat by the feet of the mammoth Hawaiian.  Wins over sekiwake-East KOTOMITSUKI, ozeki #2-West KAIO and ozeki #1-West CHIYOTAIKAI placed the Tenno-Hai in his mighty hands for the tenth time in his career.  The Hatsu champion, ozeki #1-East TOCHIAZUMA, ran MARU out on senshuraku to make his official mark 13-2.

For the first time in over a year, none of the rikishi ranked at ozeki were under kadoban going into a tournament.  The defending Haru champion, KAIO managed to stay on pace with MUSASHIMARU in the early going until he fell to komusubi-East WAKANOSATO on day 7.  Tomozuna Beya’s top man won his next two matches to stay in the chase; but his losses to maegashira #4-East AKINOSHIMA on day 10 and MARU on day 13 all but ended his run.  His 12-3 effort led the ozeki.  TOCHIAZUMA was coming off his victory in the Hatsu Basho as one of the top contenders for another yusho and possible yokozuna promotion.  But after starting with three wins, he was toppled by maegashira #2-West KOTONOWAKA and ASASHORYU on successive days.  The Tamanoi heyagashira won his next four torikumi but then fell to KOTOMITSUKI and #2-East MUSOYAMA to drop out of contention.  His final record was a still-respectable 10-5.  The oldest member of the Musashigawa “College of Sumo Knowledge”, MUSOYAMA was the sole survivor of that now-demolished institution.  He started off on the wrong foot with a day 1 loss to maegashira #1-West TOSANOUMI and never really got on track:  he rolled off four wins, but then batted .500 over his next six combats.  He did not reach kashi-koshi until day 12 with a win over TOCHIAZUMA, lost the very next day to maegashira #6-East AMINISHIKI and finished at 10‑5.  After forcing a playoff for the Cup two months ago under the Kokugikan’s tsuriyane good things were expected from CHIYOTAIKAI; however, his Haru effort was the weakest of the batch.  Going into day 12 he was at 7-4 in position to make 10 wins.  But then he totally collapsed, losing his last four torikumi to end up at 7‑8 and another kadoban.  Kokonoe Oyakata is probably not pleased with his top deshi’s work (“You were the weakest link – more keiko and less biiru, or sayonara!”).

The lower sanyaku rikishi fought like hell to keep from being swept into the hiramaku ranks, and most of them succeeded.  KOTOMITSUKI had a rough start, but managed to pull even by the 8th day.  Wins over ASASHORYU and TOCHIAZUMA boosted Sadogatake’s heyagashira out of danger; but his final 8-7 had to be a disappointment both to himself and his oyakata.  ASASHORYU, who has taken on the mantle of sumo’s nastiest competitor, started poorly with three losses in the first 4 days.  But then he put on a charge worthy of Genghis Khan, took nine of his next ten torikumi (including MUSASHIMARU) and finished with a powerful 11-4 and the Shukun-Sho (Outstanding Performance Prize).  Komusubi-East WAKANOSATO has turned into a strong sanyaku performer:  only the power of the talent above has kept him pinned in the ‘killer rank’.  It did not look good for Naruto Beya’s top deshi at the outset:  he lost three of his first 4 matches, but then won three to pull ahead.  After losing his next two, he rolled out four victories to cinch kachi-koshi:  his final 9-6 was excellent for a komusubi.  It had been eight basho since newly-married komusubi-West TAKANONAMI had drawn a sanyaku salary:  with TAKA on the shelf the man referred to in some places as ‘the human derrick’ (for his once-powerful kimedashi attack) was Futagoyama’s acting heyagashira.  The moto-ozeki’s return to the top echelon was not a successful one.  As of day 9 he was 5-4, with four of those victories posted against other joi-jin.  But he then went down in his next five torikumi (four of them against maegashira) to go make-koshi on day 13 and finish at 6-9.

The top maegashira performance was turned in by #11-West TAKANOWAKA, an 11-4 outing that earned him the Kanto-Sho (Fighting Spirit Prize).  #6-East AMINISHIKI posted a 10-5 and was awarded the Gino-Sho (Technique Prize).  The following hiramaku posted 9-6 marks:  #8-East MIYABIYAMA, #9-West DAIZEN, #13-East TAKAMISAKARI and #15-West WAKANOYAMA.  There was no Haru magic for #13-West TAKATORIKI in what could very well have been his final Makunouchi appearance in Osaka.  The 2000 Haru yusho winner lost 7 of his first ten torikumi and finished with a 6-9 that will probably send him to Juryo for keeps.  His streak of top division bouts without injury withdrawal now stands at 990.  No kinboshi were given out this time.

In the Juryo division, #1-West KOTORYU silenced the critics by demolishing the competition with a powerful 12-3 performance which will return him to the ‘bright lights’ without further ado.  #5-West JUMONJI’s 11-4 will probably get him ‘fleeted up’ as well.  #6-East HOKUTORIKI also went 11-4.  #5-West ASANOWAKA and #13-West SENSHUYAMA pounded out 10-5’s while #4-West HIGONOUMI and #10-East HARUNOYAMA both went 9-6.

MUSASHIMARU’s victory places him in the very elite fraternity of yokozuna who (since 1927) have held the Tenno-Hai 10 or more times.  These ‘legendary champions’ are:

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The 600-Win Club (updated after Haru 2002)

(Info from SUMO WORLD magazine,
the 1998 VAN VAN ‘face book’
and the Nihon Sumo Kyokai web site)

* Active in Juryo

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(from data supplied by SUMO WORLD magazine)

* as TAKAHANADA.

** shared 1970 honors with Tamanoumi.

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  JUNIOR DIVISION YUSHO WINNERS

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SEKITORI BIRTHDAYS for April and May

Data from SUMO WORLD magazine.

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  And there I was, standing with two other big men in mawashi and shorts as the panelists (Meshach Taylor, Liz Torres, Christophe St. John and Brooke Burns) and emcee (John O’Hurley) were introduced to the unsettlingly loud applause of the studio audience.

Mr. O’Hurley looked at us and made a quip about Japanese bladder control:  it was funny, but I dared not show any emotion.  As he sat down he made another quip about how just looking at us made him feel as if he were getting a ‘wedgie’.  He directed the panelists to open the sworn affidavit, which he then read to all and sundry:

“I, Jim Lowerre, am an amateur sumo wrestling champion, and a huuuge advocate of this ancient sport in the good old U. S. of A. Although not as popular as it is back East, that is Far East, sumo wrestling is catching on. So much so, that I put a dohyo in my backyard for weekly training and tournaments. Perfecting techniques such as tottari, yorikiri and uwatenage allows me to throw my opponent out of the ring in as little as four seconds.  OZUMO BANZAI!  Signed, Jim Lowerre.”

Up to this point, we had been standing on the stage like a miniature mountain range.  Number One was George Scrignoli, a short-haul rig driver:  bigger than I and solidly constructed.  He had no head hair, but made up for it with as much body hair as WAKANOYAMA.  Number Two Dave Stewart was the tallest of our group:  blond hair, a band manager (among other things) who had played football at LSU.  As soon as Mr. O’Hurley invited Mr. Taylor to begin the questioning, the video was stopped.  The contestants’ desk was maneuvered onto the stage and hooked up so that the votes could be tallied.  We presented an interesting problem:  usually the contestants wear remote ‘lav’ mikes which are clipped to the front of their apparel while the transmitter is placed in a pocket.  But we were shirtless and our shorts had no pockets.  They tucked the transmitters into the mawashi at the back.  For Dave and I, they ran the mike cords up our back and placed the mikes in our hair.  But for hairless George, they placed the mike on top of his left ear.

Once the desk was in place and ready we were seated in chairs behind it.  The tape was started again, and the questioning began.  I had few worries about this part:  days before, both George and Dave had received ‘crib sheets’ I had put together with sumo names, places, terms and pronunciations.  And I had drilled them again and again in our private dressing room for the three hours between report time and tape time.  We all knew what was at stake:  for every vote cast for an impostor, we would split $1,000.00 between us.  And it wasn’t just the contestants:  the audience had a vote, too.  When the questioning was done, a commercial break was cut in.

Off the break Mr. O’Hurley said, “One of these men is the real Jim Lowerre.  The other two are – you guessed it – big fat liars.”  Then came time to show the votes.  As the vote progressed I knew we’d done well:  the only contestant who ‘tagged’ me was Liz Torres, and she admitted it was a wild shot in the dark.  Two for Dave, one for George, one for me:  the audience vote went to George by a narrow margin over Dave, with me a distant third.

Then Mr. Hurley uttered those lovely words, “Will the real Jim Lowerre, please – stand up!”  Traditionally on TTTT, no one ever just stands up.  The contestants are supposed to look at each other, shuffle in their seats, fake rising for about six seconds before the real deal stands fully erect to the cheers of the audience.  And that is exactly what we did – until I came to my feet, clapped my hands and turned them out in chiri-chozu style.  I knew another camera was on Ms. Torres for being my only vote.  I sat down, the audience quieted, and Mr. O’Hurley asked “Number One” and “Number Two” to give names and occupations.  When they were finished, a video clip was shown from Goltz Sumo 2000 in which I defeated “Tonkatsu” for that contest’s Open crown.

When the cameras stopped, Mr. O’Hurley asked me to join him for a photo, which is reproduced elsewhere in this article.  I answered a couple of sumo questions from the audience and then left the studio:  there were more TTTT segments to tape.  But George, Dave and I were very pleased with our effort:  four incorrect votes meant we’d be splitting $4,000.00, with the odd penny going to me.

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Belated World Championship Results
by "Tonkatsu" for SUMO SHIMPO

The senior men's and women's World Championships were held at the Aomori Budokan last October.  It took us until last month to get the results.  The International Sumo Federation website has not been updated in over a year, and several requests to the ISF were ignored.  We owe our eventual success in obtaining the results to Mr. Matsuzaki, who was able to get them from the Japan Sumo Federation after several requests.  One wonders whether they really want the world to know about our sport.

The winners are listed on the back page and we are going to post the complete results on the web site.  The balance of this article is about how the USA wrestlers fared.  The program list this year’s tournament as the 10th Sumo World Championship and the 1st Shin-Sumo World Championships.  Since there were women's competitions at the two previous Worlds, we assume they were classed as demonstrations.

Let's start with the women.  This marked the first appearance by a US women's team.  They were:

Lightweight - Sharlene Serbin, California, SCSK.
Middleweight - Jaclyn Feurschwenger, New Jersey, Judo Karate Center.
Heavyweight - Mashid Tarazideh, California, CSA.

The format of the World Championships is single elimination with repechage:  to get into the repechage you must have been defeated by one of the two finalists.  Sharlene Serbin drew Kerstin Schimdtsdorf of Germany in the first round, losing by kubi-nage.  Since Kerstin lost in the next round, Sharlene didn't make the repechage.  Jaclyn Feurschwenger had a bye in the first round.  In the second round, she met Satomi Ishigawa of Japan, the eventual champion, and lost by yori-kiri.  This put her into the repechage where she lost one of the two bronze medal matches to Linda Holmeide of Norway by yori-taoshi.  Mashid Tarazideh drew a bye in the first round.  She then lost to Mille Sang of Estonia, the eventual silver medalist, by yori-kiri. In the repechage, Mashid beat Marie Simon of Mauritius by oshi-taoshi.  She then lost a bronze medal match to Britta Kreth of Germany by yori-taoshi.  In the team competition, USA lost to Thailand two matches to one with Jaclyn Feurschwenger scoring our only win.  Thailand then lost to Russia, so the US women didn't make the repechage.

The US men's team consisted of:
Middleweight - Rene Marte, New Jersey, Judo Karate Center.
Heavyweight - James Perry, North Carolina.
Openweight - Emanuel Yarbrough, New Jersey, Judo Karate Center.

There was no US lightweight representative, as US lightweight champion Gregory Donofrio had competed in the Junior Worlds in August (where he took a bronze medal in the middleweight division – “Y”).  In the lightweight competition, the 100+ match winning streak of two-time lightweight champion Svetoslav Binev of Bulgaria (who now resides in the US) came to an end.  Binev, who (for immigration reasons) had to miss the 2000 World Championships in Brazil, returned to once again lead the Bulgarian team.  He drew a bye in the first round, defeated Shohrat Allakulyev of Turkmenistan by hikiotoshi, then lost to eventual champion Chohei Kimura of Japan by yorikiri.  In the repechage, he defeated Russia’s Kandemir Kouoular by oshidashi, but lost a bronze medal by yorikiri to Janós Kismóni of Hungary.

Middleweight Rene Marte won his first two matches, beating Ryu Murayama of Thailand by okuri-dashi and Petri Sarkijarvi of Finland by soto-kage.  He then lost to Sukhbat Agvaansamdan of Mongolia by oshi-dashi.

Heavyweight James Perry also won his first two matches, beating Rungroj Pongpaphachuen of Thailand and Hans Borg of Norway, both by sukui-nage.  He then lost to eventual champion Robert Paczow of Poland by uwate-nage.  He then lost to Julio Cesar Diez Ochoa of Cuba by shitate-nage.  Diez Ochoa went on to take one of the bronze medals.  Note: We are told that Cuba may be at the NASC in Toronto.

Openweight competitor Emanuel Yarbrough drew a bye in the first round.  He then went down by shitate-nage to Jaroslav Poriz of the Czech Republic.

In the team competition, USA lost to Poland 3-0.  Bulgaria defeated New Zealand 3-0 and Cuba 2-1 before falling to Hungary 2-1.

The US teams flew to Japan courtesy of Japan Airlines.

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Results of the March 2002 Quarterly CSA Tournament
by "Yukikaze" for SUMO SHIMPO

The March 2002 Quarterly CSA Tournament was held at the “Blue Room” in the Wooden Center at UCLA.  Nine men put on the mawashi and stepped out onto the blue mats that gave the venue the name.  Your correspondent was not one of them:  his right-side wheel was still iffy, and due to a mistake in logistics there were not enough adult mawashis to cover our needs.  So this writer helped an able-bodied competitor into his mawashi, and took a seat at the scorer’s table.  Former world amateur champion Svetoslav ‘Sweat’ Binev functioned as referee.  There was a good spectator turnout, including the distinguished Matsuzaki-san and several members of the Trenchard-Smith family.  Also present was one of the wrestling coaches from the Mater Dei private high school in Orange County:  once wrestling season is over he and some of his kids might make an appearance at the “Dohyo of Dreams”.

Five men made up the lightweight (< 187 pounds) division.  They fought a round-robin, the results of which were used to seed a bracket.  When the battle was over the results were:

1.  Trent Sabo (SCSK)
2.  Kevin Yonemoto (CSA)
3.  Andrew Freund  (CSA)

Three men made the middleweight (188 – 253 pounds) division, while one heavyweight (> 253 pounds) was present.  By mutual consent, this became a combined contest.  After lots of spirited action, the following men stood tall:

1.  Joe Gobram (M) (SCSK)
2.  Peter Panatoyopoulos (M) (CSA)
3.  Fadji Gobram (M) (unaffiliated)

Every competitor present opted to enter the Open competition, so two groups were drawn:

I:  Fadji Gobram, Joe Gobram, Eric Trenchard-Smith, Kevin Yonemoto, Alex Trenchard-Smith
II:  Harry Dudrow, Trent Sabo, Peter Panatayopoulos, Andrew Freund